


Punishment

by Sunja



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes, Hurt Daryl Dixon, M/M, Negan (Walking Dead) is an automatic warning, Rape/Non-con Elements, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 17:22:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14117232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunja/pseuds/Sunja
Summary: Negan brings Daryl along to Alexandria to use him to punish Carl for trying to kill him.





	Punishment

**Author's Note:**

> This would have taken place in S7E08. I hope it's understandable without me explaining context, but I'm going to do it anyways. Rick and Daryl are partners and sort of together. As in they trust each other (maybe even love?) and they have sex occasionally, but they are not exclusive. Richonne is still a thing. In the group everybody sort of knows or suspects about Rickyl, but they never talk about it (Negan suspects/knows too). When Negan takes Daryl, he wants to make him his soldier, but he also wants to fuck him and own him. Daryl figures this out and is freaked, but hears about the savior's no-rape-rule and just ignores Negan's innuendos. Then Carl shows up and tries to kill Negan. So Negan decides to bring Daryl with them to Alexandria to teach everybody a lesson. 
> 
> Hope you like it, I was in need of more angsty Daryl/Negan, so I wrote some. And since S7E01 is pretty overused by now, I had to come up with something else. Leave me a comment ;)

It was nice and cool inside Rick’s house. Daryl stood by the kitchen counter and waited. He felt awkward and out of place like before, when Negan had had him follow him around while Carl gave him a tour of the house. His rags stood in dire contrast to the neatly cleaned kitchen and tastefully decorated room. Negan looming by the door, Lucille laid carelessly over his shoulder, made him feel trapped. Rick and Carl were standing close together and kept shooting him glances. They had noticed Negan’s strategic position blocking the only exit too, the way they stood together was a habit of each trying to protect the other. Daryl had seen it before. 

They all knew, that this was when shit would go down. Spencer and Olivia, all that had been foreplay. Spencer had dug his own grave and Rosita had made a brave but fruitless attempt to change things. They had got their punishments. Spencer was selfish, so he had been killed. Rosita was trying to protect the community, so one of them had been killed. None of that had been punishment for Carl's actions earlier today though. Carl had obviously caught on to that. Daryl knew that now was be the time for that. He was worried. The last time he had punched Negan, Glenn had payed with his life. Carl had killed several of Negan’s men and had threatened to kill him. How bad would the punishment be? His only comfort was, that Negan sort of needed Rick to keep the group in line and also sort of liked Carl and him. He knew exactly how much Negan liked him. He knew Negan wanted him, it had become obvious after a few to many innuendos and stares. 

What truly worried him though, was that they were in Rick’s house. In private. Normally, Negan would dish out punishment in public, to make an example of the perpetrator and to intimidate everyone watching. It was easier this way to scare people into submission. Like the iron this morning.

This time, they were in private. Whatever was going to happen, it was meant to effect the three of them, and only the three of them. Negan had even sent Judith to Tara to watch. That was a bad sign. 

„Well, I’m guessing by now, you’ve all figured out why we’re here.“ Negan smiled his wicked smile. He pointed Lucille at Carl. „You, young man, are a badass.“ He paused for dramatic effect. „But even if you’re a badass, you killed two of my men this morning and you tried to kill me, and even though I like you kid, I can’t let that slide.“ 

Carl’s eye flicked to Rick and to Daryl, before he went back to staring down Negan. Daryl had to admit, the kid had balls. Even he had learned his lesson by now. But he had a feeling Carl was about to learn his. 

„Now, you’re probably wondering why I brought Daryl along.“, Negan continued. The hand not holding Lucille came down and gripped his shoulder, finger digging into the scar Dwight’s bullet had left there. Daryl didn’t move to shake it off, but he looked up to Rick and Carl. Carl’s expression was still angry and unimpressed, but Rick was showing a sort of haunted look. It reminded Daryl of that morning, when Negan had almost made him cut off Carl’s arm. Rick looked defeated and that scared Daryl. He had never seen Rick so beat down, not even after Lori’s death. 

„You see, I told you this would happen.“ Negan dragged Daryl until he was standing right in front of Rick and Carl. 

„I told you, that if you, or any of your people, and that includes you, Carl, would ever try anything, I would bring Daryl here and have you cut off his arm.“

Daryl felt the blood drain from his face. As often as Negan had threatened to cut of his limbs or burn his face, or anything else, it had always been a tease. A reminder to follow the rules, to give in, or else. And Daryl had made sure to never let it come that far. He hated Negan and the Saviors and he hated working for them, but he valued his life and his limbs more than his freedom. To cut of his arm for something he didn’t do… it was… it was…. It was like bashing in Glenn’s head because Daryl had punched Negan, he realized. It was the same thing. Designed to punish the others as much as it was hurting him. He looked up at Rick and Carl. 

„That’s not fair! I attacked you! If you want to punish me, fine, but leave Daryl out of this!“, Carl was furious, but Daryl could see the fear in his eye. Carl knew as much as Daryl did, that this argument wouldn’t work. It was exactly why Negan would take his arm and not Carl’s. Because they were a family and they would all die for each other. They could all live with their decisions and their consequences, as long as they only affected themselves. None of them could live with their mistakes hurting others. Rick, Carl and him, they were all protectors. They would all take the punishment if it meant others would be spared. But this time, they wouldn’t be able to. This time, Daryl would lose an arm, and there was nothing Rick or Carl could do about it, or the punishment would be much worse. 

Rick hadn’t said anything so far. His hand was resting on his axe, that he had almost chopped of Carl’s arm with. He was sweating. Daryl looked him in the eye, trying to tell him, that he would be fine. He could handle it. That Rick needed to be strong. For the group, for Carl, for Daryl. 

But Rick wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at Negan, whom Daryl could feel standing right behind his shoulder, looming over him and basking in Rick’s and Carl’s reactions. 

„Please don’t.“, Rick asked. „Please, whatever you want, but don’t make me hurt him. Or Carl, please don’t.“ He was begging now, Daryl could see his hand shaking. He had never seen Rick this scared. Not when surrounded by walkers, not when faced with starvation, or death, or people… 

„Please, you know Daryl is a good hunter and a good fighter. Whatever you want him for, he’ll need his arms.“, Rick pleaded. All Daryl wanted to do was to step forward and hug him. Whenever he was in Rick’s arms, he felt like everything was going to be okay, and he knew Rick felt the same. They both needed that now. The feeling that everything was going to be okay. But they couldn’t hug, they couldn’t even talk. Everything now would give more advantage to Negan. 

„That is very true.“, Negan admitted. He paused for a moment, as if in thought, but Daryl knew that whatever he said next, he had planned all afternoon. 

„How about I give you a choice.“ He couldn’t see Negan, but he could hear his threatening smile in his voice. 

„Either you cut off Daryl’s arm, or Daryl agrees to let me fuck him. Right now. Upstairs in your bed.“

Daryl froze. He’d _known_ , he’d known for weeks now that Negan wanted him. And it had scared him, more than he had ever wanted to admit. But then he had heard about the savior’s rule against rape and he had thought he was safe. He had been wary, for sure, but apart from some vague innuendo Negan had never made a move. And so Daryl had stopped thinking about it. Had stopped worrying. 

And now it was all back with a vengeance. Suddenly he was hyper aware of how close Negan was standing, how tight his grip around his shoulder was. And most importantly, he was aware of Rick who was looking at him with deep sorrow. He was aware of Carl, who suddenly didn’t look like the brave young man that he was, and instead more like a scared kid. A scared kid on the road to Terminus being pressed to the ground by a man. 

All the alarm bells in Daryl's mind were going off. His head was spinning. His thoughts were fragments, words people had said. Rick’s: „Whatever you want him for, he’ll need his arms.“ His brother, calling him a little bitch. Himself, shouting at a hallucination: „I ain’t nobody’s bitch!“ There were flashes of his life: hunting with his crossbow, fighting walkers, holding Judith, hugging Carol, his hands on Rick’s sweaty skin… The thought of doing any of it without one of his hands was so impossible he couldn’t even begin to picture it. But the alternative…. He was vaguely aware he had started shaking. He knew, objectively, that he should let Negan do what he wanted. Bruises would heal, soreness would pass, but an arm would never grow back. But the thought of being touched by the man who had killed Glenn and Abraham, to let him do things only Rick was ever meant to do to him… He couldn’t… 

And then, for a moment, he pictured Merle. His big brother, standing there with a knife strapped to his stump, grinning like an idiot. „It’ll be alright lil’ brother. You’ll be just like me!“ And Daryl knew, that he never wanted to be like his brother. 

„… I’ll do it.“, his pained voice was barely a whisper, but it still seemed deafeningly loud, especially in the silence that followed. 

„Daryl…“, Rick started, shame resonating in his voice. He didn’t finish the sentence. 

Negan chuckled, his mouth right next to his ear, and Daryl flinched _hard_. „You should be thanking me Rick, after all, your right hand man here gets to keep his _right hand_ and I haven’t even touched your son there.“ 

The hand on Daryl’s shoulder moved to instead hold the grip stitched to the back of his shirt. Negan gestured at Rick and Carl with Lucille. „Now you two stay right here, while Daryl and I go upstairs and have ourselves some fun. We’ll be back in a bit. If anyone of you leaves or decides to come upstairs, we’ll have to go back to chopping off Daryl’s arm.“

He shot Rick and Carl a grin and started pushing Daryl towards the stairs. Daryl went without a protest. He had made his choice. He felt fear twisting his guts, but he wouldn’t be weak. He could take this. He would make it. He had to.

Despite his resolve, he was still shaking and almost tripped on the last step. He caught himself just in time to pass it off as a stumble and let himself be pushed into Rick’s and Michonne’s bedroom. He heard Negan lock the door behind him and the sound made him flinch. 

It was wrong to be here. This was a place meant for good times. The good times he and Rick had had here, and the good times Rick and Michonne had had here. It wasn’t meant for this. It was also thoroughly lacking as a bedroom. There was no bed, for one. Rick and Michonne had given Judith the last mattress and Carl was sleeping on the couch. There were only a few blankets and pillows scattered around. But Negan had known this. Carl had given him the tour. Daryl knew, he had been there. This wasn’t about having it comfortable, it was about making a point. Negan was intruding on Rick’s territory and marking it with bad memories. 

Daryl stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not really knowing what to do. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be rid of Negan and the Saviors. He wanted to lay down on that improvised sleeping place and be comforted by Rick’s scent. He didn’t want _this_. 

„Come on, Daryl, don’t chicken out now!“, Negan teased cheerfully, as he strode around to face him. „You said you’d do it, so you’d better, or I’ll make Rick cut off your arm and Carl’s!“

„Don’t.“, Daryl said quietly, but he still didn’t move. He couldn’t. He could maybe let Negan do what he wanted, but he couldn’t pretend this was anything else than it was.  
„Take off your clothes.“, Negan ordered. 

Daryl looked to the floor and pulled his shirt over his head. He needed a shower. His hair was greasy and he was covered in dirt from working the fence all day. Negan didn’t seem to care. He looked pointedly at Daryl’s pants. 

Daryl clenched his jaw and pushed his pants down. He didn’t have underwear. He didn’t try to cover himself, he knew it would be of no use. He stepped out of the pants and watched Negan from under his hair. Negan was grinning. It was obvious he had been waiting for this. The bulge in his jeans also told Daryl, that he wouldn’t get out of this one. 

„Get over here.“

Daryl swallowed and slowly walked over to Negan, who had leaned Lucille against a wall and taken off his jacket. He smiled dangerously and let his hand run across Daryl’s chest. Daryl felt himself tense, while every cell in his body screamed for him to either run or fight. Daryl did neither. He stood there frozen, while Negan ran his hands up and down his torso, over his neck and finally into his hair. He gripped it tightly and roughly pulled back Daryl’s head. Daryl winced. 

„Look at me.“

Daryl forced himself to comply. Negan was looking down hat him, that casual threatening tone was back in his voice. „In a moment, you will go over to that blanket and get on your hands and knees. Then, I will fuck you. You know the rules, if you fight me, I will punish you. Now, I can make this enjoyable for you. To do that, you just have to answer me one little question." He smiled threateningly. "Who are you?“

Daryl felt a tear prickle at the corner of his eye. He refused to let it fall. He fought with himself for a moment, until he was sure his voice wouldn’t break. Then he stared Negan right in the eyes and answered. „Daryl.“

Negan chuckled. „Suit yourself.“

With that, he pulled Daryl over to the sheets by his hair, turned him around and kicked him in the back of the knee, so Daryl fell down to his knees. Negan gripped him by the neck and pushed him forward, at the same time kicking his knees apart. 

Daryl wanted to shove him off, wanted to fight him, but he knew it would only make things worse. So he let himself be manhandled until he was propping himself up on his elbows. Negan’s hands were now running over his hips and ass. He heard plastic tear and looked up to see that Negan had ripped open a little package of lube.  
He had planned this all along, Daryl noticed. It didn’t make him feel any better or worse. He felt pretty empty right now. Like he wasn’t really there. This wasn’t really happening, or it was happening to someone else. But not him, never him. 

Then he felt a slick finger at his opening and the reality of what was happening hit him like a train. He was about to be raped. By the man who had killed two of his friends, his family. This was really happening. It wasn’t just a nightmare, and no-one would come to save him. He tensed and tried to push himself up, but Negan gripped his neck and pushed down, hard. „Don’t do that. I told you what happens when you fight back.“

With one hard thrust Negan pushed a finger inside him. Daryl gasped in pain and forced himself to relax. Negan was right. Fighting it would only make it worse.  
Negan moved his finger a bit, and then, far too quickly, added another one. Daryl grimaced, but could keep the noises of pain quiet, that were threatening to escape him. He was breathing faster now, to work through the pain. He had had rough sex with Rick before, but then it had been fun and safe. Rick knew him and he trusted Rick. Rick had known when it was to much and had stopped. Negan didn’t stop and he didn’t care that Daryl was in pain. Far to soon he heard Negan’s belt open and then the zipper. The fingers were pulled back as Negan slicked himself up with the remaining lube and then Daryl could feel his tip at his entry. He sucked in a breath, tried to relax and braced himself. 

Negan gripped his hips tightly and then roughly thrust inside. This time, Daryl couldn’t keep quiet and a pained cry erupted from his lips. Negan paused and pulled out again. „Who are you?“

It took Daryl a moment to recognize the words through his world of pain. He grit his teeth. There was a tear running down his cheek. Damnit, he had promised himself he wouldn’t cry. He was glad Negan couldn’t see his face. He took a deep breath. He wouldn’t break. Not from this, not ever. „Daryl!“, he pushed out. 

A moment later Negan slammed back in with full force and Daryl screamed again. Negan kept fucking him at a brutal pace and Daryl did his best to hold back any sounds. He couldn’t hold back all of them though. Every now and then Negan would make a thrust particularly hard or hit some nerves just the wrong way and Daryl would howl in pain. He thought of Rick and Carl downstairs and hoped the walls were thicker than they looked. 

Once Negan was near his climax, he sped up the movements of his hips even more and grabbed Daryl’s hair. He pulled him up util Daryl’s back was to his chest. „You’re mine.“, he pushed out between thrusts. „It’s time you and Rick learned that.“

A few more thrusts and Daryl could feel him come inside him. At the same time, he turned Daryl’s head to the side and bit his neck hard. Daryl knew there would be a big ugly bruise and it would be visible. That was something he had never allowed anyone to do, not even Rick. He snarled and tried to rip his head from Negan’s grasp, but he didn’t budge. 

„Let me go!“, he growled. Negan just chuckled. „I own you, Daryl. You’re not going anywhere.“ 

He waited a few more moments and then pulled out and let go of his hair. Daryl immediately scooted back over the floor, trying to put some distance between them. Everything hurt. His ass and neck were worst, but he felt like he had been split open and the pain was seeping through his whole body. All the times Rick had fucked him, it had never felt like this. This wasn’t sex anymore. This was torture. This was rape. 

He grabbed his clothes and pulled them on quickly, wishing he had more clothes to use as a barrier between himself and the other. 

Negan had also tucked himself back in, put on his jacket and picked up Lucille. „Let’s go back downstairs then, shall we?“

 

-

 

„Dad…“, Carl started hesitantly, after Negan had dragged Daryl up the stairs. 

His Dad didn’t look at him. He had turned his back and Carl could see his shoulders shaking. He was crying, he realized. It was disturbing. His Dad was strong and the only time he had seen him cry was when his mom had died. He had seen his Dad scared when Negan was going to make him cut Carl’s arm off, but even then, he hadn’t cried. He had begged and pleaded and wailed, but he hadn’t cried. 

Carl didn’t know what to do. But they had to do something. They couldn’t just stand by while Negan did god knows what to Daryl upstairs. Carl remembered what it had been like. Being held down, unable to fight, and then hearing a belt buckle open. Realizing all at once, what it meant. He remembered how terrified he had been. He still had nightmares about it sometimes. But his Dad had stopped the man. It had been okay. 

He couldn’t let it happen to Daryl. Daryl was family. He had to protect his family, he had to make sure everything would be okay, just as his Dad had done for him.  
He unsheathed his knife and took a few steps towards the stairs. 

„Carl, don’t!“

Carl snapped around. His Dad still had tears in his eyes, but he seemed more focused again. 

„But we have to do something!“, Carl hissed. „We can’t just let him…Daryl…“ He couldn’t even say the word. It was like a piece of bone stuck in his throat that he just couldn’t cough up. 

„We can’t do anything. Not right now. Whatever we do now, it will only make things worse.“ He could see how much it hurt his Dad to say those words. 

Carl still couldn’t do it. How could Rick say this when he and Daryl had been so close for so long? „But Dad, Daryl is family! He would have died for us on the road, when that group got us, he’s the one who protects everyone! He’s your partner!“

His Dad looked away. „I know Carl. If I could stop it, I would. But you know there is no winning with Negan. Remember what happened with Abraham and Glenn.“

Carl looked away. He knew he couldn’t help Daryl. He couldn’t change things. Not right now. There was nothing he could do in this moment that would make things better. He was just angry and scared. But he also knew, that his Dad was right. If he went up there now to fight Negan, Daryl would get hurt more. Or his Dad, or somebody else. Negan wouldn’t hurt him, because he knew that Carl could live with that. 

Carl swallowed and put back his knife. He turned away from the stairs. 

A scream carried down through the hallway and Carl swirled back around. It had been Daryl. And it had been a scream of pain. 

He looked at his Dad. Judging by his pained expression, he had heard it too. 

Carl looked up the stairs and back at his Dad. Rick shook his head. Carl understood. He nodded once and turned away from the stairs. He walked over to his Dad and wrapped his hands around him. Rick hugged him back. 

Carl pressed his eyes closed and tried to focus on his Dad’s shaky breaths, but every now and then he was distracted by a pained sound from upstairs. Every time he heard one he flinched and pulled his Dad closer. His Dad was running his hands through his hair and was whispering unintelligible things into the top of his head. 

After what felt like an eternity, the sounds finally stopped. A few moments later, they heard the bedroom door open and steps on the stairs. 

Carl stepped away from his Dad and they both watched as Negan and Daryl came down the stairs. 

Negan was holding Daryl by his hair in a way that had him arching his neck. On his neck, there was a big bite mark to the side of Daryl’s throat. 

Even though Carl had no experience with anything sexual, he knew what it meant. Negan had marked Daryl as his. 

Daryl seemed dazed, like he wasn’t really there. He was also limping. Carl wanted to punch the smug grin off Negan’s face. It must have shown on his face because Negan’s grin widened. Carl looked back to Daryl. Daryl was looking right back at him and slightly shook his head. It was Daryl’s way of saying „Don’t, it’s not worth it.“ It also meant that Negan hadn’t managed to break him. 

So Carl stood down. 

Negan stared at him for a moment longer, before he turned to his Dad. „Okay, Rick, I hope you have your people better under control from now on. Now me, Daryl and my men are going to take our tribute, including your bullet maker, and leave for the time being. Make sure you have more interesting shit for me to take next week.“ Negan waved his hand and pulled Daryl out the door. 

 

-

 

They had thrown Daryl back in his cell. He was huddled into a corner, his knees pulled up to his chest and desperately tried not to think of it. He had already thrown up once when a particularly realistic flashback had torn through him. The puddle was small and stank. 

Daryl didn’t mind. As long as there was the stink of puke, at least he wouldn’t have to smell the stink of Negan’s cum, that still clung to him. 

He wanted to shower, wanted to burn the cum stained clothes he was wearing. He had never felt so dirty. 

But he was stuck in this cell, in the darkness with nothing but his thoughts of what had happened. What Negan had done. 

He had already cried all the tears he had. For Abraham, for Glenn, for Spencer and Olivia, for Eugene who was now also stuck in this place, and for Rick and Carl, who had heard his cries, if their expressions were any indication. 

Daryl buried his face between his knees and closed his eyes. He needed to think of something nice. How about Judith. The lil’ Asskicker. She was a sunshine, that one. A little angel with her golden hair and joyful smile. He had enjoyed seeing her again today. She had recognized him despite his rags and had kept calling for „unca Dary“ which had amused him and Carl and pissed Negan off. She had even smiled at him when Tara had picked her up before… before…

There it was again. The phantom sensation of hands running over his chest, gripping his hips, pulling at his hair. 

Daryl cursed. It was over! He needed to stop thinking about it! He needed to move on! He needed to be strong! 

The click of the lock took him totally by surprise. He jerked to his feet, ready to fight to his death, should it be Negan. 

The door opened, but only an inch. 

„Daryl?“, somebody whispered. Daryl knew that voice. He moved forward silently, until he could peak through the gap. „Jesus?“, he asked disbelievingly. There he stood, with his hat and his coat and that confident smile. How the hell had he gotten in here?

„I’m breaking you out.“, Jesus whispered. „You coming?

Daryl felt like someone had just lifted a great weight from his shoulders. He tried hard to clamp down on the hope rising up. They hadn’t made it out yet. If they got caught things would be so much worse. But he had to try. 

He pulled the door open a little further and stepped through. Jesus locked it again behind him. Daryl looked around and noticed Fat Joey lying on the floor.  
„He dead?“, he asked. 

Jesus nodded. „He had the keys. And I thought it would be a nice idea to leave them a walker as a departing gift.“ He winked at Daryl. „I strangled him.“ 

Daryl just nodded and they hurried down the corridor. Jesus was a sneaky fellow. A few doors down he had hidden some clothes that he handed Daryl. „It’s a storage closet. No-one will see us.“ 

So they squeezed inside and Daryl immediately took of his clothes. Jesus had tactfully turned his back and was listening at the door. Daryl changed and tapped Jesus’ shoulder as a sign that he was good to go. Jesus nodded and they went out again. 

They hid behind a corner to let some guards pass and then hurried out into the courtyard where Daryl had wound up during his first escape attempt. Daryl grinned and went to hot-wiring a motorcycle while Jesus stood watch. 

A minute later and he climbed on. Jesus jumped on behind him and they were good to go. He revved the engine and they shot through the yard and out the gate. The walkers were to slow to even come near them as Daryl drove them at high speed over the asphalt. 

They kept going hat high speed for half an hour, but never saw or heard anyone following them. 

„I think we made it.“, Jesus told him and Daryl slowed the bike to a stop. He needed a moment. They had made it. He was out. He was out of the sanctuary and away from Negan. He was free and he would make damn sure he would never have to go back. 

He felt a tear running down his cheek. 

„Are you okay?“, Jesus asked, worry in his voice. 

Daryl wiped at his eyes. „Now I am. Thank you.“

Jesus smiled at him. „Anytime.“

Daryl started the bike again and they made their way to the Hilltop. Everything was going to be okay.


End file.
